What is the most stupid thing you have ever done on your boat?

[ancora]

We had salt water collecting in the holding tank area of our boat. Pumped it out and found the water seeping in from under the holding tank and removed it (easier said than done.) Except for being loaded with piscrete, the tank was sound. Discovered the water was coming in from the bilge sump. The primary bilge pump switch was not working, allowing the water to overflow into the holding tank compartment until the level reached the secondary bilge pump. When I replaced the house batteries, I missed connecting the positive wire to the primary bilge pump, ergo, the problem. It is going to cost me, as the Sicilian now wants me to convert the forward head to fresh water just like I did the aft head, with a Raritan SeaEra conversion kit which will eliminate the piscrete.

 

[Gulf Comanche]

Leaving dock with raw water thru hull closed. New impeller installed shortly after discovery of dumb move.

 

[dhays]

Leaving dock with raw water thru hull closed. New impeller installed shortly after discovery of dumb move.

Yeah, did that myself on my Catalina 36 with a Universal. High temp alarm went off as we were right in front the Pt. Defiance ferry dock.

 

[BDofMSP]

Assuming the channel went straight instead of sighting the next marker. Learned a hard lesson about wing dams that day.

 

[GFC]

Early on in my first marriage we chartered a 32' Grand Banks in the San Juans. We were headed up an inlet to a small town we wanted to visit and I was watching the depth finder closely. So close that I was able to see it go from 10' to 0'.


Yup, we soft grounded on a mud bank. I took the anchor in the dinghy and rowed it back about 100' and stuck it in the muck so when the tide came back in the boat would float free but wouldn't pinwheel up the channel with the current.


While we waited we dropped the crab traps over the side in about 2' of water. Crabs were racing to get the moldy chicken we used as bait. We ended up pulling up the pots when we'd get a couple of crabs on top. By the time the tide was coming in we had our limit plus a few extra. The pot was already boiling so we tossed them in and had a fine lunch before we retrieved the anchor and went on into town.


Nothing better than eating crab that's only been out of the water an hour.

 

[MYTraveler]

Not my boat but . . .

It wasn't my boat, but it was my stupidity, so here goes. It happened after a day of unsuccessful fishing on my friend's new boat. All of his baits died so we caught no fish. Back at the dock he was pretty bummed about the poor performance of his bait tank, and since it was a nice warm summer day, we started having a few beers. At some point, I told him that the problem was he had an east-coast boat where, since bait tanks are pretty much an after thought, good bait tank design is rare. I pointed out that the tank was too narrow for the baits to swim in nice circles, and reminded him of how wide my tank is, and how my baits stay healthy and happy for days on end. It then occurred to me that he could easily buy and after-market tank and install it in place of the factory built-in tank. Well, one thing led to another and I tried to explain exactly what I had in mind, but he was having trouble visualizing. That is when someone brought up the idea of getting a sawzall to cut out the part of the tank that needed to be removed. I can't remember how much cutting we did before any of us had any regrets. But by the next day, I think we all realized it was a mistake. He ended up having a replacement tank custom fabricated to fit the hole we had made, and lots of fiberglass work to make it look right. But in the end it worked out -- he can keep bait healthy and happy for at least a couple days.

 

[Group9]

Was bringing our boat from Kemah, Texas, where we bought it. First night, realized the generator battery was dead. I walked six miles round trip to get a pair of jumper cables. Jumped the generator off. Two days later, noticed there was a pair switch on the electrical panel to connect the main batteries and the generator battery.

 

[Lollygag1]

After a few drinks we had the bright idea to......

 

[High Wire]

I used a twist lock type telescoping boat pole to keep my broken down outboard boat off a jetty rock seawall. The thing telescoped in when I pushed on it. Went overboard and landed head first on a flat rock 2 feet under. Like diving into the shallow end of the pool. My left wrist karate chopped a sharp rock that ripped off my watch. Had the rocks been reversed my head would have been split no doubt.

 

[HopCar]

After a few drinks we had the bright idea to......

Sorta like “Hold my beer. Watch this!”

 

[jleonard]

Not enough space to tell my stories.

 

[alesnloggers]

Well, there was this one blonde....

 

[MurrayM]

This weekend a couple guys a few streets up from me were working on a speedboat on a trailer. Somehow, some gasoline got spilled into the bilge. It must have been hard to clean up because they went and got a Shop Vac to speed up the process somewhat.

Everybody (including the boat) survived without serious injury...

 

[caltexflanc]

To paraphrase Thomas Edison, I have never done a dumb thing on my boat. I just discovered dozens of things that should not be done.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Okay, I swear I'm not in this story, but it is too good to not tell:
Long ago a co-worker of mine bought one of those no-freeboard, huge engine screamers and recruited a couple guys to go with him to pick it up. Someone suggested they stop at the nearby mountain lake and try out the new (uninsured) boat. They were sufficiently lubricated to make this seem like a good idea.

They made several roaring orbits of the lake before the engine inexplicably quit. The doughty crew was all heads-down in The engine bay when another overpowered sled wakes them, close, fast, and big.

GA-LUB and the three of them were swimming in 400 feet of "pure Rocky Mountain spring water" .

Next day a card appears on the work bulletin board: FOR SALE boat trailer, nearly new $18,000, contact Joe Rxxxx.

 

[READY]

Took the initiative to clean the sea strainer and intake hoses for the main engine. Very proud of myself. Next evening out for a cruise on San Diego Bay with a boatload of friends when I smelled overheated coolant. Engine temp pegged. No audible alarm. Shut down and open hatch. Oily steam fills the pilothouse. Of course I had not reopened the seacock. Took a long time to clean that film off the inside of the windows. Fortunately only damage was to my pride. Now I have added an exhaust temp gauge with a bright light and very loud alarm. Planning to add an inline flow alarm next.

 

[Tin Man]

Finally, a thread I have something to contribute....and more than one.


Took some friends on my father's 31 Uniflite years ago (pretty much how all my stories start)...


Spent a night in a marina in Montauk. The next day was beautiful, so we headed to the beach for a bit including body surfing on the nice waves. Got back to the boat mid-afternoon to prepare for our next destination - Block Island. We could not get a clear radio signal to hear the NOAA forecast, but it was a nice day and a short run so we cast off. After passing our first waypoint, I handed the helm over to a buddy while I went to the head and for some beers. A friend quickly followed me below and asked for the Dramamine. The one at the helm shouted, Capt. you might want to get up here...


That's when the weather started getting rough and the tiny ship was tossed...


Well, it got really bad, we could not see over the tops of the waves when we were in the troughs. So, I don't know 12' footers maybe... in a 31' foot boat - fun stuff. We were cavitating, disappearing below the waves, taking them over the bow, rinse and repeat. I tried a few different ways to get us out of it using throttle and helm and finally decided tacking was best. Well, we made it across and got in the lee of Block Island without too much spilled beer.


When we pulled into the marina, a neighbor asked casually, "are you guys coming in from the anchorage?" While I was securing lines, one of the guys casually responded, "no, we just came from Montauk, why?" The neighbor got all bug eyed and blurted, "through the HURRICANE?!?"



Apparently, one should clean the terminals on the NOAA weather radio before casting off even on sunny days and after body surfing in the nice BIG waves. The Hurricane was well off shore... the waves, not so much.



Don't recall if I told my Dad about this one...which is how all my stories end.

 

[wkearney99]

Heh, this reminds me of a thread on another site, "Ever do something so stupid you wonder if you should be left unsupervised?"

 

[Mako]

After blowing a couple thousand bucks on my stupid lesson-learned, I posted a sign that Murphy was not allowed onboard. Never made a mistake again after that!

 

[Tin Man]

My next stupid contribution...


Again, guys and beers on Dad's 31 Uniflite, Chesapeake Bay this time...


About to cross under a fixed bridge that we had plenty of clearance or.... One of my buddy yells, "Capt. The Antenna!". Quick thinking (or not), I thought risk the antenna collapsing on one of my buddies or turning the wheel hard over at full cruising speed. Guess what I did? I missed hitting the transom against the bridge by just a few feet, or less. Saved the antenna and no one got hurt in the cockpit pileup. Capt. (me) hollered, "everyone okay? {pause} Lower the mast and bring me a beer!"


I don't recall if I mentioned this story to Dad... (not).

 

[dennismenace111]

Water in the Tank

I was trying to dry out my tanks after some fuel contamination and thought it would be a good idea to try some dry gas, like we used to use in our cars when we got a load of bad gas.... Unbeknownst to me, my tanks were made of fiberglass... well the dry gas attacked the fiberglass tanks and they started to disintegrate from the inside out...

After a few days of working to find out why my engines no longer would run, I found the problem....had to replace both 50 gallon tanks.

 

[Mako]

Of course I had not reopened the seacock..... Planning to add an inline flow alarm next.

Sure that is a good alarm to have, which would signal before your engine has a chance to alarm for overheating. Still, it might be a bit of an overkill.

I was always freakin' paranoid about closing my seacocks and always placed a sign at my helm (written with a BIG marker) whenever I did, including just cleaning out the strainer.

A little bit of paranoia is a good thing

 

[BrianSmith]

In the "we could have died" category, only one: coming into the Sebastian Inlet on the East Coast of FL after a 15 hour run from the Bahamas in our 43' Gulfstar Trawler. Didn't properly understand the way the waves break as they come around the tip of the jetty, and for about 2 seconds, I thought we were going to flip over as the wave broke with us on it. 90 degree turn and full power, and it was all over in 5 seconds.

In the "DOH!" category: sucking the dinghy tow rope into the stern thruster, and then, no more than a month later, wrapping it around the prop shaft. Both while maneuvering to anchor.

In the "What a mess!" category: starting the main engine while I had the oil pressure sender removed.

In the "Just this week" category: not opening the seacock for the watermaker before firing it up. Shut it down after about a minute when I realized what I had done, but I think I may have damaged something, as the water I'm making now isn't as pure (more PPM of salt) than before.

 

[Capn_Q]

Sure that is a good alarm to have, which would signal before your engine has a chance to alarm for overheating. Still, it might be a bit of an overkill.

I was always freakin' paranoid about closing my seacocks and always placed a sign at my helm (written with a BIG marker) whenever I did, including just cleaning out the strainer.

A little bit of paranoia is a good thing

Lock-out/tag-out at every opportunity on our boat.

 

[Mako]

Yep, we lock-out/tag-out whenever working around high voltage electric on our projects as well. Good routine to get into.

On a boat, remove the key from the ignition as well.

 

[rgano]

I have never done anything stupid on my boat, AND I have never told a lie. I can however tell you one or two little things not to do.

 

[Southx10]

Impeller

Leaving dock with raw water thru hull closed. New impeller installed shortly after discovery of dumb move.

Got that one.beat maintenance change raw water impeller, started engine let it run and high temp alarm came on. Oops, didn't open thru hull, now another impeller.

 

[Jacques Burgalat]

Well, aside from buying a more than century old, 64-foot, 40 ton Dutch Sailing Barge in Fort Lauderdale, and then motoring it up the ICW to Saint Augustine (when I had never as much as rowed a dinghy before), nothing much comes to mind.

For sure, I banged-up a few fuel docks and scraped-up several bridge abutments in the process, but with minimal damage and no loss of life.

At about this time next year, I should have had her re-rigged and ready to sail along the eastern seaboard. All I need to do in the mean time is learn how to sail.

 

[hmason]

On our first trawler (single engine) we were towed 15 miles at 3 knots because of an engine that refused to start. My mechanic simply put the gear in neutral and she fired right up.

 

[Bigal6030]

Why mention one dumb mistake?
- ran out of fuel in 3’ seas
- over estimated the bridge height wreaked my flybridge
- rope in prop
- launched a boat without a drain plug
- pumped fuel into my waste tank 2 gallons worth
- I’ve been boating for 40 years and still wonder why, but just can’t stop